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Part the Third; On the Trail of Villiany
-[arbitrary date +2], near a village on the Wynn-Aleister border
The princess and her man Baldric are headed into the village to get a feel for the local situation, which I profess some hope for, seeing as there's no pillar of smoke rising from the border. I have remained behind toFuchs must be one of the finest guardsmen the thee brothers have ever seen, given his professed lack of familial ties in high places and endless, endless stream of foolish questions and pronouncements. I am, however, satisfied that he is not a double agent working for Aleister in secret. On a related note, I am less sure about the Wynn city guardsmen. Before we left the city, the guards unloaded the tiefling, Alaesa I beleive her name is, off on us. I can think of only three reasons for this;
-The most secure fortress in Wynn can't hold one captive.
-The tiefling will scuff their pristine floors, and that is unacceptable.
-They think getting the only link to the assassins out of official custody is a good idea.
So in short, they're either incompotent, treasonous, or focussed on petty prejudices. Daft. Alaesa herself doesn't seem particularly dangerous. The most incendiary part of her thus far is her tongue. Though she does seem to be a new member of the increasing coterie of magical girls I appear to be accumulating on this expedition, as she has a small lizard familiar named 'belphie' that lives in her tattoos. She's also insistent that the person that bound her to assassinate the king is not a wizard, and can't scry on her. I'm not sure I trust that from her, and I will ensure that we stay to wild terrain, devoid of landmarks or roads. However, if not a wizard it does beg the question of who compelled her. Perhaps some form of arcane artifact or device. I should investigate-
Princess returning. Ask about arcanic devices later. Also Alaesa or Nathurra about narashtans. The breed sounds familiar, but I can't place the name

-Just passed border of Wynn. Mages say we tripped arcanic alarm. Plan to move deeper into Aleister, outrun pursuers. Will convince party to go to ground, erase tracks, be in defensible position come nightfall.

*This page of the tome is half-filled by a rough map of Aleister and the party's progress into it*

Part the Fourth; The Grove of False Ghosts
-[arbitrary date +2], late evening, forest deep in Aleister, the name escapes me.
I still think these woods are haunted. Something keeps moving just at the edge of my vision.
Following Alaesa's advice, we set up camp near a site the assassins found congenial earlier while Framboise's man Baldric eradicated all signs of our passing. Our camp is hidden, but I worry that a concerted effort by the enemy will be able to locate it, especially if they possess the aid of magic to run us to ground. Our camp has already been found once tonight.
The first sign was our campfire not lighting properly. Had I known they were attempting a fire, I would have broken from concealing our pack animals to dissuade them, but then we might not have been forewarned. Soon after, my keen senses detected a gnomish intruder attempting to infiltrate our camp. He claimed his name was Bumble, and was attempting to scare us away by sabotaging our stay for the night.
I do not trust him. For all his professed concerns about moving into the wilderness to protect his own from strangers, he was oddly insistent on inviting us back to his home to meet his family. What sort of protective soul invites a group of heavily armed strangers he meets in the woods talking war and sedition back to his home for tea? However, we did learn about the situation in Aleister from him. Apparently, the king of Aleister is very ill, and control of the country has devolved onto his young daughter, perhaps? Also he there is something unnatural about his illness, but that may just be superstitious mutterings. Naesra does raise the possibility that Wynn's royals may have tried something that caused Aleister to invade in kind, but if they did the princess knows nothing of it.
For all the talk of war, we saw no signs of enemy patrols, pursuit, or other or troop movement. Well, we did stay off the roads. Setting watch for the night, in case the worst befalls us.